Re: Am I doing this right?

I'm with Cowdery: Stay where you are.

Relatively, it's a really bad time to start getting into high end stuff. You'll spend a ton of money and time, and as Chuck said, you're not missing much. If it were three or four years ago I'd advise differently, but not now. Not like this.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Originally Posted by Trey Manthey

I'm with Cowdery: Stay where you are.

Relatively, it's a really bad time to start getting into high end stuff. You'll spend a ton of money and time, and as Chuck said, you're not missing much. If it were three or four years ago I'd advise differently, but not now. Not like this.

Thanks for your opinion. So, I assume the high end stuff has recently rocketed up in price,but the quality is about the same as it was, or maybe even not as good as years ago?

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He made himself another drink and thought how much better the Perrier was than anything else you could put in whisky... Hemingway

Re: Am I doing this right?

That's pretty much been my approach as well - except that I am not sure about moving to the upper shelf. I have been carefully selecting and working through high value low to mid shelf bourbons (a lot of the same ones you have, just not all at once!) for the last 1.5 years and have found little wanting. When I have had higher shelf offerings, on the other hand, I am often struck by the "good, but not 2x or 3x better" conclusion.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Originally Posted by cowdery

I'm not saying don't go there (to the top shelf). I'm just saying you don't need to go there.

I did this with wine about 6 years ago. I found the same thing.

There is a level, usually somewhere around the middle shelf area, sometimes a little lower, sometimes a little higher, that you really don't need to go above unless you just have bags of money you need to get rid of.

Re: Am I doing this right?

You have a lot of good pours already (W12, OGD114, EC12 IMO). Going to the top shelf is less reliable than in years past because of the Bourbon boom and the fact that plenty of independent bottlers have expensive, unremarkable whiskies out there. Before plunking down serious money, do your research here. The search tool is extremely valuable in finding where to spend your hard-earned dollars.

Re: Am I doing this right?

Great collection of pours there. I started years ago with single malt scotch. I tried bourbon and realised the quality to price I was getting suited me more. I still do enjoy single malts, but I'm happy if I just have Glenlivet Nadurra 16yo in the cabinet. I enjoy mostly mid-shelfers like you have. I also like Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, Irish Whisky (Jamesons SR, Green Spot, Redbreast), Select Canadian Whisky, and sipping rums.